Alumni, students class over standing

Penn students' ritual of standing throughout each men's basketball game has been squashed at the Palestra this year. But contrary to popular opinion, this is not a new rule -- only a crackdown in enforcement. Since the start of the 1995-96 season, students in the usually rowdy sidecourt sections -- 115, 116 and 215 -- have been prohibited from standing for the entire game because they were blocking the view of the court from long-time season ticket holders in adjacent sections. The policy, however, faded into the background until last year, when students in the side section resumed the tradition of ignoring their seats for most of the game. This irked non-student ticket holders in the other sections and prompted Penn Athletic Director Steve Bilsky to enforce the four-year-old policy. Students buying season tickets this season were told that they would not be allowed to stand constantly if they had sidecourt tickets, although as usual, standing would be allowed freely in sections behind the west basket. Some students, like College sophomore Kathleen Culver, heeded the warnings. Culver chose to sit behind the basket so she could partake in the standing tradition. Others, however, did not believe the Athletic Department would follow through on its promise to enforce the rule this year. College freshman Donny Astor and Engineering freshman Eric Borgman chose to sit in section 116 for the better view, but have been frustrated by their inability to get off their feet. "We wanted to see the game really well and we thought they wouldn't be as strict about it, but they are," Astor said. There is little consensus, however, on the extent of the University's enforcement. College freshman Ed Graf claimed that he was told to sit down at the Penn State game last December, but others said they have not seen a real difference this season. "We had much more of a crackdown about three years ago," said Tony Jannetta, a 1956 Penn graduate with season tickets in section 214. The current policy was agreed upon by a small group of students, alumni, faculty and staff prior to the 1995-96 season and does not prohibit all standing by those in the student sections -- only excessive and incessant standing. "There will be times where [students] are up clapping and yelling and screaming because they're trying to incite the team, and that's what people expect to happen," Bilsky said. "What they don't want to have happen is someone comes in the entire game and they're standing." According to Bilsky, the step-up in enforcement has been a complete success this season. "It's worked exactly the way it's supposed to work," Bilsky said. But many students and veteran student ticket holders still believe the current solution is not ideal. College sophomore Erick Goldberg, for one, calls the policy "absurd." "The players tell you there's nothing like playing at the Palestra and having the entire student body behind you," Goldberg said. "And when an opposing team comes in here, they expect to see thousands of Penn fans standing on seats and jumping up and down." Jannetta, meanwhile, believes the solution would be to move all student tickets to behind the baskets. "You wouldn't have any problems and the kids could see the game just as well, and that's what most schools do," Jannetta said. Still, most students begrudgingly accept the current policy as an acceptable solution to a difficult problem. "I understand the rule, but it just goes against the spirit of the game," College freshman Ann Vecchio said.